Seventh United States Army

For a detailed background on the Seventh Army in both World War II and the Korean War, see United States Army Europe.
U.S. Seventh Army
Active 1943–45
1950–present (United States Army Europe)
Country  United States
Allegiance  United States Army

The Seventh Army was a United States army created during World War II that evolved into the United States Army Europe (USAREUR) during the 1950s and 1960s. It served in North Africa and Italy in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations and France and Germany in the European theater between 1942 and 1945.

Originally the I Armored Corps under command of Lieutenant General George Patton, it made landfall at Morocco during Operation Torch as the Western Task Force, the first all-U.S. force to enter the European war. Following successful defeat of the Wehrmacht under General Erwin Rommel in North Africa, I Armored Corps was redesignated the Seventh Army on 10 July 1943 while at sea en route to the Allied invasion of Sicily as the spearhead of Operation Husky.

After the conquests of Palermo and Messina the Seventh Army prepared for the invasion of France by its Mediterranean coast as the lead element of Operation Dragoon in August of 1944. It then drove a retreating German army north and then west toward the Alsace, being absorbed into the newly created Sixth United States Army Group in mid-September. In January of 1945 it repelled a fierce but brief enemy counter-offensive during the German Operation Nordwind, then completed its reduction of the region by mid-March.

In a lead role in Operation Undertone launched March 15th, the 7th fought its way across the Rhine into Germany, capturing Nuremberg and then Munich. Elements reached Austria and crossed the Brenner Pass into Italy by May 4th, followed shortly by war's end on VE-Day, May 8, 1945.[1]

History

North Africa

The United States officially entered World War II in December 1941, after the attack on Pearl Harbor. By November 8, 1942, George S. Patton was commanding the Western Task Force, the only all-American force landing for Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa. After succeeding there, Patton commanded the Seventh Army during the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943 in conjunction with the British Eighth Army, commanded by British General Bernard Montgomery, Patton's rival. Patton commanded the Seventh Army until 1944.

Sicily

The U.S. Seventh Army landed on several beaches in southern Sicily on 10 July 1943 and captured the city of Palermo on 22 July and, along with the British Eighth Army, captured Messina on 16 August. During the fighting, the elements of the Seventh Army killed or captured over 13,000 enemy soldiers. The headquarters of the Seventh Army remained relatively inactive at Palermo, Sicily, and Algiers until January 1944, when Lieutenant General Mark Clark was assigned as commander and the Seventh Army began planning for the invasion of southern France.

Southern France

The invasion was originally given the code name of "Operation Anvil", but was changed to "Operation Dragoon" before the landing. In March 1944, Lieutenant General Alexander Patch was assigned to command the Army, which moved to Naples, the following July. On 15 August 1944, Seventh Army units assaulted the beaches of southern France in the St. Tropez and St. Raphael area. On September 15, the Seventh was put under the field control of the U.S. 12th Army Group, which also included the French First Army. Within one month, the Army, which by now employed three American divisions, five French divisions and the 1st Airborne Task Force, had advanced 400 miles and joined with the Allied forces coming south from Normandy. In the process, the Seventh Army had liberated Marseilles, Lyon, Toulon and all of Southern France.

Alsace

The Army then assaulted the German forces in the Vosges Mountains and broke into the Alsatian Plain. During the Battle of the Bulge in late December, it extended its flanks to take over much of the area that had been the responsibility of U.S. Third Army, now commanded by Patton who had previously commanded the Seventh, which allowed the Third to relieve surrounded American forces besieged at Bastogne. In mid-January 1945, the Seventh engaged in pitched battle seeking to regain ground lost to Germany's Operation Nordwind New Year's offensive. Along with the French First Army, the Seventh went on the offensive in February of 1945 and eliminated the Colmar Pocket. After capturing the city of Strasbourg, the Seventh went into the Saar, assaulted the Siegfried Line, and reached the Rhine during the first week of March, 1945.

Germany

In a lead role in Operation Undertone, the 7th fought its way across the Rhine into Germany, captured Nuremberg and then Munich. Finally it crossed the Brenner Pass and made contact with the US Fifth Army at Vipiteno[1] - once again on Italian soil.

In less than nine months of continuous fighting, the Seventh Army had advanced over 1,000 miles and for varying times had commanded 24 U.S. and Allied Divisions, including the 3rd, 36th, 42nd, 44th, 45th, 63rd, 70th, 100th, 103rd, and 105th.

Post-World War II

The Seventh Army was inactivated in March 1946, in Germany, reactivated for a short time at Atlanta, Georgia, then inactivated again. It was reactivated by the United States European Command (EUCOM) with headquarters at Patch Barracks, Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Germany, on 24 November 1950 and assigned the command and ground service forces of United States Army Europe (USAREUR).[2]

On 30 November 1966, the 7th Army was relocated from Patch Barracks to Heidelberg. Following French disagreements with certain NATO policies, United States European Command relocated from Paris to the following year. From that time forward the 7th Army has been the headquarters for all Army units under the European Command. Its major subordinate elements were the V Corps and VII Corps (Inactivated in 2013 and 1992, respectively.)

Insignia

The shoulder sleeve insignia for the Seventh Army was approved on 23 June 1943. The letter "A" (for "army") is formed by seven steps indicating the numerical designation of the unit. The colors suggest the three basic combat branches which make up a field army - blue for infantry, red for artillery, and yellow for armor (cavalry).

Veterans of the Seventh Army wore a tab reading "Seven Steps to Hell" under the patch, but this tab was never officially authorized.[3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Fifth Army History • Race to the Alps, Chapter VI : Conclusion "On 3 May the 85th and 88th [Infantry] Divisions sent task forces north over ice and snow 3 feet deep to seal the Austrian frontier and to gain contact with the American Seventh Army, driving southward from Germany. The 339th Infantry [85th Division] reached Austrian soil east of Dobbiaco at 0415, 4 May; the Reconnaissance Troop, 349th Infantry [88th Division], met troops from [103rd Infantry Division] VI Corps of Seventh Army at 1051 at Vipiteno, 9 miles south of Brenner."
  2. ↑ http://www.usarmygermany.com/Sont.htm?http&&&www.usarmygermany.com/units/hqusareur/USAREUR_HqUSAREUR.htm
  3. ↑ "Seventh Army History". Retrieved 29 May 2012.
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